Mercedes Schneider reports here on the absurd class sizes assigned to teachers in Louisiana in virtual classes. The teachers are not “teachers,” they are in charge of case loads. They are using a canned curriculum called “Edgenuity,” and she says that it can easily be gamed by students to get higher marks. Education? Not really.
She writes:
Unlimited enrollment is particulary obvious in the virtual high school numbers.
First-semester biology, 282 students; first-semester environmental science, 461 students– both belonging to the same teacher of record (who has an additional 91 students in two other classes).
Yowsa.
First-semester US History, 306 students; first-semester World History, 129 students, AP US History, 48 students– all assigned to one teacher.
First-semester English I, 381 students; first-semester English I Honors, 55 students– both courses, one teacher.
First-semester Algebra I, 394 students assigned to one teacher, who also has another 125 students in 3 additional courses.
First-semester Government, 567 students. One teacher.
First-semester English II, 299 students; first-semester English II Honors, 68 students– same teacher.
Alg II, 220 students; Spanish II, 208 students; Spanish I, 193 students; Computer Science, 93 students; Pre-calculus, 81 students; Algebra III, 72 students; Algebra II Honors, 57 students; Pre-calculus Honors, 29 students; Spanish III, 3 students; Business Math, 49 students. All. Overseen. By. One. Teacher.
How thin can you spread your peanut butter and still call it a sandwich?
When a single teacher is responsible for tutoring and regularly communicating with 400, 500, 600, 700 students on a pre-fab curriculum that students are expected to primarily complete independently, you tell me how much quality education is transpiring here.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
If anything in education can be called a ‘factory model,’ it is Louisiana’s virtual school with no limits on the number of virtual students. This design is more like a meat processing plant than a school. The students will likely get a far less valuable academic experience, and the teachers are more likely to burn out from the sheer numbers of virtual students while also juggling in person classes as well.
Zilch. CBK
“DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. – Educators say a private online learning platform Douglas County Schools paid $800,000 for isn’t the best way to educate students, and Denver7 Investigates has learned the district’s elementary schools have stopped using the platform entirely.
Douglas County e-learning teachers oversee the platform, but students have very little live interaction with them. Instead, students work their way through virtual warm-ups, instructions, summaries, assignments, and quizzes.
Videos are shown in some curriculum courses but are pre-recorded using Edgenuity teachers — not Douglas County educators.
This year marks Dorman’s 37th year teaching science for Ponderosa High School. She questions why the district chose to outsource learning to a private company and for such a high cost.”
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/investigations/douglas-co-schools-paid-nearly-1-million-for-e-learning-platform-teachers-say-isnt-worth-the-cost
sharpest reality: “and at such a high cost…”
Ed reformers are still promoting and marketing these online platforms.
Here’s Jeb Bush selling the products in the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/03/jeb-bush-its-time-embrace-distance-learning-not-just-because-coronavirus/
It’s intended to be a cheap replacement for teachers in low and middle income districts- don’t let the national ed reform salesforce bamboozle your district into buying.
They don’t use this junk in the private schools they send their own children to- why do they want to sell it your district?
This is another privatization scam. It is a way to send public money into private pockets while pretending to still be part of the public system. It is all part of the agenda to provide a separate and unequal education to the poor and working class. Pictures of administrators that buy this garbage should be hung on a wall of shame.
Our district did a trial of an online science course 2 years ago. My son took the class. I watched the class watch videos and provide one and two word responses to canned questions that appeared on the screen. The students are tested CONSTANTLY. I estimate 1/4 of the class is taken up providing responses to standardized tests.
If one set out to absolutely kill any student’s interest in science, this would be the way to do it. A joyless, dull slog. Entirely passive and missing any human interaction of any kind.
But classes with 500 students will surely cut education costs, hence the relentless promotion of these products by the political and ideological leaders of ed reform.
The absurdities documented by Mercedes Schneider are likely to be present in many other states, not just Louisiana.
First, look at Edgenuity as a for-profit company. It is little more than assortment of opportunistic acquisitions of content developed by people who know how to program and market instructional software for on-line delivery. Whether these originators of instructional content have any expertise in education is buried from public view.
Edgenuity’s timeline shows it was founded in 1998, launched a web-based platform in 2005, was acquired in 2011 by Weld North Education and rebranded Edgenuity in 2013. In 2016, Edgenuity acquired Compass Learning expanding that ready-to-use courseware to K-12 math and English language arts. In 2019, Edgenuity acquired Glynlyon/Oddessyware widely used by homeschoolers.
The most recent acquisition, in 2020, was Purpose Prep, an online social emotional program with over 600 hours of instructional videos, and other features including “Topical Intervention Modules and several thousand “”Prepackaged Discussion Questions.” No need for living, breathing humans to offer support.
Edgenuity has been adopted or approved for use in these states.
Arkansas Department of Education Online Provider
California: University of California Office of the President (UCOP) A-G Online Provider
Colorado Department of Education Advisory List of Instructional Programming (K-3 reading/ELA)
Florida Department of Education Online Course Provider
Florida Department of Education Virtual Instruction Provider
Louisiana Department of Education Supplemental Course Choice Provider
Maryland Department of Education Course Provider
Mississippi Department of Education Online Course Provider
Montana Office of Public Instruction Digital Content Provider
North Carolina NC Vendor Course Approval Process (NC VCAP) approved
Nevada State Department of Education Online Course Provider
North Dakota Department of Education Online Provider
Oklahoma State Department of Education Supplemental Online Provider
Pennsylvania Department of Education Online Course Catalog
Texas SSI (grades 6-8 ELA)
Virginia Department of Education Multidivision Online Provider
Washington State Department of Education Online Provider
In addition to these state departments of education, Edgenuity, has these clients
College Board Online Advanced Placement Provider
National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA
Edgenuity aligns itself with these rating schemes for “credibility.”
iNACOL Course Review. This rating scheme is from the International Association for K-12 Online Learning. iNACOL has rebranded itself as the Aurora Institute. The Institute offers “National Standards for Quality Online Courses” a 2019 update on the “Quality Matters.”
What is Quality Matters?
Quality Matters. This is another rating schemes favored by Edgenuity. Quality Matters is nothing more than a rating scheme for online materials, fee-based, with a “QM Certification” to aid marketing.
Learning List. This is a rating scheme offered K-12 instructional materials by Angie’s List.
Edgenuity is also a preferred source for specific instructional materials in the following states:
California 2014 Primary Mathematics Instructional Materials Adoption (CA Common Core Mathematics 6-8)
Georgia 2013 CCGPS ELA 6-12
Oklahoma Department of Education Social Studies
Oregon Instructional Materials
Utah Department of Education Instructional Materials Adoption, Spring/Fall 2013
Georgia 2012 CCGPS Math 6-12
https://www.edgenuity.com/about-edgenuity/accreditation/
I trust readers of this blog will be aware of the Common Core connection for California and curious about the kind of social studies instruction Oklahoma has approved. I would investigate, but I had my Covid-19 shot early this am and I am out of steam.
Laura H. Chapman It’s really pretty simple . . . the below paragraph from your note reveals the BIGGEST educational oversight of the 20th and 21st centuries shared by Gates, and apparently all those groups in these notes, . . . you know . . . the one that most actual teachers are well-aware of: the need for systematic and qualified human connections as both content educators and as EXAMPLES of thoughtful, civilized, adult human beings (not baby-sitters or punitive test monitors).
“The most recent acquisition, in 2020, was Purpose Prep, an online social emotional program with over 600 hours of instructional videos, and other features including ‘Topical Intervention Modules and several thousand Discussion Questions.’
“No need for living, breathing humans to offer support.” <–a very bad idea. CBK
Edgenuity seems to be well insulated echo chamber for on-line pseudo education services. It is a school-in-a-box concept applied to US students. In a pandemic it is better than nothing. Post pandemic any district that subscribes to this platform is selling it students short of an authentic, human education.
How about 100 kindergarten students in a single, in person classroom? It happened in Detroit in 2014, and was called an “experiment”…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/07/29/school-puts-nearly-100-kindergartners-in-one-class-in-a-teaching-experiment/
Are these courses covered from tax dollars?